Welding apparatus



1934- A v. J. CHAPMAN 1,983,343

" WELDING APPARATUS I Filed Sept 19, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I Inventor: Verni -;J.Chapman,

Hi6 Attorney V. J. CHAPMAN WELDING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 19, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllllllllllll I! lllllllillllllllrrll erni ap an,

by 1+ EQJM His bcowney 6 lar shape may be automatically welded.

was; Dec. 4,

. UNITED STATES PATENT- or WELDING- APPARATUS Vemi I. Chapman, N. Y. aldgnor g 61:3: Electric Company, a corporation of.

ammo; September 19, 193:, Serial No. 090,059

14 Claims. (cl. 219- 8) My invention relates to welding apparatus. It is an object of my invention to provide a is imparted :to it and through worm 2} and worm machine of simple and improved construction by wheel 23 to the guide wheel 20. The carriage 14 means of which'seams of predetermined irreguthe parallel disposed beams 2'7 and 28 of the frame Itis a furtherobject of my invention to provide 15. The to and fro movement of the carriage l4 in'such a machine a guiding means of improved on the frame 15 and the swinging of the frame construction. 15 over the. work in response to the guiding action Further objects of my invention will become of the wheel 20 on the guide track 12 enables the apparent from a consideration of the following welding tool to follow any irregular configuration description of an embodiment illustrated in the determined by the guide track 12 which has the accompanying drawings, Figs. 1 and 2 of which same effective shape as the seam to be'welded show side and top views of an arc welding main the work 11. The control for the welding head chine embodying my invention; Fig. 3 of which and for motor 26 is indicated at 29. shows the relation of thenozzle and guiding The construction of the guiding means assomeans of the machine illustrated in Figs. 1 and ciated with the welding tool is illustrated in de 2, and Figs. 4 and 5 of which illustrate modificatail in Fig. 3 of the drawings. It will be noted tions of the guiding means of Figs. 1, 2and 3 in that the hollow shaft 22 by means of which the which electromagnetic means are used inplace worm wheel 23 is connected to the guide wheel of the mechanical means there illustrated. 20 is journaled on a hearing 30 which is mount- The machine of Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a work ed on the nozzle 21. It wiii also be noted that holder 10 inwhich the work 11 is supported in the wheel 20 is held in engagement with the fixed position relative to a guide track 12. In guide track 12 by another wheel 31 which is pivthe arrangement illustrated, this guide track is otally supported on an arm 32 by a collar 33 atsupported on the work holder but this method of tached to nozzle 21 by a set screw 34. The wheels support is not necessary since other means may 20 and 31 engage the opposite sides of the guide be provided for positioning it relatively to the track 12 and are held in engagement therewith work holder and the work located therein. The through the biasing action of a spring 35 which machine illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 is an arc is attached at one end to a collar 36 rotatably welding machine, and the welding tool constitutes mounted on shaft 22 and at its other end to an automatic arc welding head 13. This welding the arm 32. for the roller 31. The nozzle 21 is head is s pp t d o 3 281 8 14 movable 0 2 attachedto the welding head 13 by means of a a frame 1 which is piv tally and slidably sup-' clamp 37' in which it is rotatably supported by ported on a vertically disposed pillar 16 by mea s abearing 37. Inasmuch as the welding head 13 of a bearing 17 attached to the frame and iouris supported on the carriage 14 the nozzle 21 is naled on the pillar. 13yreason of its pivotal supin eiiect supported on the carriage and held in port the frame 15 may swing over the work in fixed relation thereto but free to rotate about a horizontal plane and by reason of its sliding its on axis under the influence of wheel 31 Support i y be adjusted 'verticallyto 'accomwhich is attached thereto by arm 32 and col- 40 modflte diflelent kinds of Work located i DD lar 33. Arrangements. such as illustrated in Fig.

priate holders. The frame 15.iscounter -balanced 3,'by means of which the welding tool.is dibya weight located within the pillar 16 and at.- rected along the seam by a guide wheel through tached to the bearing 1'! by a cable 18 which exwhich the tool extends and by means of which tends over a pulley 19 attached to the pillar 16. the welding tool is also rotated about its own '45 The pillar 16 and work support 10' are located axis through an agency which engages the guide on a common base which may or may not form r track and holds the guide wheel in engagement an integral part of the machine. .4: therewith, are in accordance with'the joint in- The welding tool is guided along the seam by V ventiongoi myself and Robert M. Stephens whose means of a wheel 20 through which the nozzle application, Serial-No. 690,000, for Welding ap- 21 of the welding head 13 extends. This wheel is paratus, field concurrently herewith is assigned journaled on the nozzle and connected by a tothe same eeasthepresent case. when hollow shaft 22 to a worm wheel 23.. This worm supplying an. electrode through a curved nozzle nected to a motor 26 by means of which rotation is provided with flanged wheels which travel along I wheel a driven by a worm 24 which mummy. in order to direct it toward thework at a pre'- I mmmtedonashatt 25which extends along the determined angleltis eacnflalthatthenoazle name 15. The inner end'ot thisshait is conbe rotated at thou points where the of welding is changed so that the direction and angle at which the electrode is fed toward the work shall remain the same throughout the welding operation. The tip'of the nozzle 38 is pivotally supported from the body of the nozzle 21 and'may be swung laterally thereof by means of an adjusting screw 39 which engages an arm 40 attached to the nozzle tip. The arm 40 is biased against the head of the screw 39 by means Consequently, at those points in the seam where the direction of welding is suddenly changed the guide wheel traveling along the inside surface of the track engages'it along an extended surface which prevents slippage between the guide track and the guide wheel. It is of course within the contemplation of my invention to give to the guide track the same configuration as that on the seam to be welded. but when this construction is employed the guide wheel will only make a line contact with its track and the advantages obtained .by employing the preferred construction above noted are not then obtained.

Instead of employing mechanical means for holding the guide wheel in engagement with the guide track, magnetic or electromagnetic means may be employed for this purpose. Two arrangements in which electromagnetic means have been employed are illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5.' In Fig. 4 the guide wheel 42 through which the nozzle of the welding tool extends is made of a magnetic material and engagesa guide track '43 which is also made of magnetic material. The guide 'track 4 Fig. 4 is otherwise the same as that described above in connection with claims 1, 2 and 3.

Instead of magnetizing the track as illustrated in Fig. 4, the guide wheel may 'be magnetized,

and such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 5. In

this figure the guide wheel 45 is provided with a magnetizing coil 46 which is electrically connected to slip rings 4'7 by means of which magnetizing current is supplied thereto. When magnetized, the wheel 45 is held in engagement with the guide-track 48 which is made by some suitable magnetic material.

In the arrangements above described the welding tool has been illustrated as an automatic arc welding machine. It is, of course, to be imderstood that the welding tool is not necessarily an arc welding tool but may be a gas or other 'type of welding tool. In either case the welding the guide wheel, but this construction is not necessary since by disposing the tool radially from the center of rotation of the guide wheel a suitable oscillating motion may be imparted to the welding tool. The welding tool may be supported any suitable manner for movement along the guide track, and my invention is not limited to the particular swinging frame arrangement illus trated anddescribed above since other constructions-may be employed for supporting the welding tool for movement along the guide track. Furthermore, although I prefer to mount the motive means for the guide wheel upon the swinging frame in order to decrease the size and weight of the travel carriage 14 on which the welding toolis supported, it will be understood that my invention is not limited to this particular arrangement for other arrangements may be employed without departing from my invention.

- What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1; Welding apparatus comprising a guide track, a welding tool, a wheel supported for rotation about said tool, means for supporting said tool for movement along said track, means for holding ,said wheel in engagement with said track, and

means for rotating said wheel.

' 2. Welding apparatus comprising a welding tool, a wheel journaled on said tool, a guide track formed of sections parallel to the seam to be welded and connected at their ends by arcs tangent thereto and of the same curvature as said wheel, and means for holding said wheel in engagement with the inside surface of said track.

3. Welding apparatus comprising a guide wheel, a welding tool extending through said wheel at a point displaced radially from its center, a guide track spaced a uniform distance from the seam to be welded, and means for holding said guide wheel in engagement with said track.

4. Welding apparatus comprising a guide wheel, a welding tool extending through the center of. said wheel, a guide track spaced outwardly from the seam to be welded'a uniform distance equal to the radius of said wheel, and means for holding. said wheel in engagement with the inside surface of said track.

5. Weldingapparatus comprising a guide track 115 and wheel one of which is a magnet and the other its armature, a welding tool extending through said wheel, means for supporting said tool for' movement along said track, and means for rotating said wheel.

6. Welding apparatus comprising a guide track of magnetic material, a magnetic wheeloperat ing thereon, aweldingtool extending through said wheel, means for supporting said welding tool for movement along said track, and means for ro- -tating said wheel.

7. Welding apparatus comprising a welding tool, awheel journaled on said tool, a guide track, electro-magnetic means acting on said wheel and track for holding them in engagement with one another, means for supporting said welding tool for movement along said track, and means for rotating said wheel.

8. Welding apparatus comprising a work holder, a guide track, a frame pivoted for swinging movement over said work holder and said track, a carriage movable along said frame, a welding tool mounted on said carriage, a wheel journaled on said tool, means for holding said wheel in engagement withsaid guide track, and means for rotating said wheel.

9. Apparatus for arc welding seams ofpredetermined configuration comprising a work holder, a guide track of said predetermined configuration, a frame pivoted for swinging-movement over said holderand said track, a carriage movable along said frame, a nozzle mounted on said carriage, a wheel journaled on said nozzle, means for holding said wheel in engagement with said track, means forfeeding an electrode through 1 said nozzle, and means for rotating said wheel.

10. Apparatus for welding seams of predetermined configuration comprising a work holder movable on said frame, a nozzle, means for sup-' porting said nozzle on said carriage, a wheel supportedfor rotation about the longitudinal axis of said nozzle, means for holding said wheel in engagement with said track, and means supported on said frame for rotating said wheel.

guide track of said predetermined configuration, a vertically disposed welding tool, a wheeljournaled onsaid tool and operating on said track, a frame movable in horizontal directions over said work holder and saidguide track, means for supporting said welding tool on said frame, means for holding said wheel against the side of said track, and meansjfor rotating said wheel.

12. Apparatus for arc welding seams of apredetermined configuration comprising a work holder having a guide track of said predetermined configuration, a wheel operating on said track, a nozzle extending through said wheeLmeans for feeding an electrode through said nozzle, a frame pivoted for swinging movement over said work holder and said guide track, a carriage movable along said frame, means for supporting said nozzle on said carriage, and means for rotating said wheel.

13. Apparatus for welding; seams of predeter mined configuration comprising a work holder shaft journaled on said nozzle and extending from said carriageto a position opposite said guide track, a wheel mounted on said shaft opposite .said track, means for holding said wheel in n agement with said track, a second shaft extending along said frame, means supported on said frame for rotating said shaft, and means inll. Apparatus for welding seams of predetermined configuration comprising a work holder, a

cluding agear slidably mounted on said second shaft for rotating said first mentioned'shaft and the wheel supported thereon. I

14. Apparatus for welding seams of predetermined configuration comprising a work holder having a guide track of said predetermined configuration, a frame pivoted for swinging movement over said holderand said track, a carriage movable'along said frame, a nozzle, means for.

, supporting said nozzle on said carriage, a hollow shaft journaled on said nozzle and extending from said carriage to a position oppodte said guide track a wheel mounted on said shaft opposite said track, magnetic means acting .on said wheel and said track for holding. them in engagement with one another, a second shaft extending along said frame, means supported on said frame for rotat- 

